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HOW HIGH CAN YOU FLY?

Born on November 22,1942,Guion S. Bluford would come up the ranks to be the first Black in Space. He graduated from Penn State and subsequently served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, where he flew 144 missions and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel.

When he returned to the United States following his Vietnam tour, Guion earned a PHD in aerospace engineering the same year that he was selected from more than 8,000 applicants to be part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations program.

Mr Bluford made history on August 30,1983 when he became the first black to experience space travel.He was a member of the STS-8 Orbiter “Challenger”. His responsibility during this mission was the launching of a $45,000,000 Insat-1B communications and weather sattellite, which he did successfuly.

Bluford retired in 1993 after logging 688 hours in space in his career. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997.